Paths to Hell
by trishy fishy
Summary: The team track a killer who is on a mission to purge the streets of Honolulu. As they hunt him down, the killer turns his sights onto a member of the team, and the case turns into a race against time to save them.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, guys. I'm back, with a whole new story. I've been dying to post another story, but I just haven't had the time. But I had a free evening tonight, so I decided to post this for you all. Fair warning, this story will be a lot darker than anything else I've written, and will also focus on the concept of religion, specifically Christianity. If this isn't your cup of tea, don't read it. You have been warned.  
><strong>

"David, come on!" the young woman called as she ran through the park. "Come on, we're almost there!" David ran after her, wheezing slightly, and she slowed her pace to match with his. "You're doing great; you've come a long way since we started."

The slightly overweight man smiled at her as they jogged along the trail. "Thanks, Lana," he panted. "Really, thanks."

Lana returned the smile and they ran in silence until they reached the street. "Right, that's it for this week. You've done great, though, David; you should be proud of yourself. I'll see you again next Saturday, same time, and we'll see if we can't increase the distance of our run."

"Sounds good," David agreed.

"Excellent. Remember, nothing fatty or processed, and no more than 5g of salt a day. Sodas, sweets, crisps as well: all out."

David nodded. "I know. I'll see you next week." Wiping the sweat off his brow, he set off at a slow pace down the street. Lana watched him until he was about halfway down the street, before turning and running back into the park, deviating off the trail and running through the trees. She much preferred going off the path and finding her own way back, rather than being told where she had to walk. Lana had never been particularly good with rules.

Going through the trees was always nice, as well; there was something peaceful about them that helped Lana to cool down after a training session. It was quiet because she was away from the path, so she could just be with her thoughts.

Lana gasped as she tripped and fell to the ground, putting her hands out instinctively. She hissed as she felt the sting of cuts on her palms from twigs on the ground. Carefully pushing herself to her knees, Lana inspected the damage.

"Dammit," she groaned at the long, thin slash across her left palm. Thin cuts always hurt like a bitch, since the nerve endings were left exposed, and this one would be a pain to deal with while it healed.

Lana twisted around to see what it was she'd tripped over. It could have been a branch, which, if it was, she was lucky not to have twisted her ankle on, as well.

These thoughts quickly left her mind, replaced by intense fear, as Lana saw what she had tripped over. Her screams echoed through the park as she scurried away from the burnt, blistered body, the only one present to hear her.

**Short, creepy opening, I know. The other chapters will be longer, I promise. When that will be, however, I don't know. Since I'm now in Sixth Form, I get a lot more prep to do. Those who have done their A-Levels in a Sixth Form will know the general amount of work I'm getting on a daily basis. I'm only taking four subjects, but I have two teachers for each, who both set their own prep, so lots of homework. Lucky me. So, my writing time has been severely reduced. Just be patient with me, though; I will update whenever's possible, I promise. But for now, good night! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the mistake before; I finished this chapter at half eleven last night, and I was too tired to think about reading through it and making sure there were no mistakes. I've rectified it now, so it makes sense now. Sorry for any confusion :S**

The park was buzzing with activity by the time Steve arrived. HPD officers had blocked off the entire park, keeping curious pedestrians away, while CSU techs scoured the park for evidence. He spotted Chin talking to Duke, and headed towards them.

"Chin, Duke, what do we have?" he asked as he approached them.

"A young woman found a body in the park about an hour ago and called it in. Danny's talking to her now and getting her statement," Chin filled the former SEAL in, gesturing over to where Danny was speaking with a young Hawaiian woman, still shaking slightly from the shock of finding the body.

"Do we have an ID yet?" Steve asked as Chin led him into the park, towards the body.

"Not yet. There's no ID on the body, and fingerprints are probably out," Chin replied.

"Why? How bad is it?"

Chin hesitated for a moment before answering, "It looks like the victim was burnt to death, Steve."

Steve sucked in a breath, wondering who could have done such a thing. Danny approached them at that moment, so thankfully he didn't have to dwell on that thought for long.

"Okay, so I spoke to our witness," he started. "Lana Kailua. She's a personal trainer; said she was with one of her clients this morning on their weekly run, and found the body when she was heading back to the gym. She didn't see anyone nearby, though."

Steve nodded. "Okay. I'm assuming we don't have an ID yet?"

"Not yet," Chin confirmed. "There's no ID on the body, and we probably won't get any fingerprints. DNA might get a hit, though."

"Get Max to send a sample up to Charlie Fong when he gets the vic back to the morgue," Steve ordered as they walked through the wooded area towards the body.

Kono intercepted them as they approached. "Hey, guys. So HPD and CSU have canvassed the area, but so far they've found nothing. There's no trace from our killer."

"It rained last night; if there was any evidence from the killer, it's probably long gone by now," Danny pointed out, and Steve nodded.

"Maybe, but there's a chance that there may be some evidence left," he countered. "Kono, tell them to continue sweeping the park for another fifty yards. If they don't find any evidence within that radius, call them off."

"Sure, boss." Kono turned and headed back to the CSU team searching the surrounding area for evidence.

Max was stood next to the body, making some preliminary notes on the victim, as they approached him. "Max, you got anything so far?"

"I'm afraid not, gentlemen," the short pathologist answered. "All I can say for certain is that, based on the blistering of the epidermis, an accelerant was used. If I am able to take a sample, I will send it up to the lab."

"Can I see the body, Max?" Steve asked, and the doctor unzipped the body bag, revealing the corpse inside.

Despite everything he had seen during his years as an active SEAL, Steve always struggled with deaths like this, simply because it was such a horrible way to die. Forcing down the feeling of slight nausea, Steve inspected the blackened and blistered skin.

"Have you ever seen anything like this, Steve?" Chin asked, but Steve shook his head.

"The only thing I can liken this sort of damage to is napalm, but I doubt our killer has managed to get his hands on that," he murmured. "Max, get the body back to the morgue, and call us when you have something."

"I will, of course, Commander McGarrett," Max nodded. He and another CSU technician lifted the body bag onto a gurney and wheeled it away from the scene.

"We should get to HQ as well," Danny said, and they walked back out of the park, towards their vehicles.

* * *

><p>"Commander, you received my message," Max stated as the partners entered the morgue an hour later.<p>

"Yes. What have you got?" Steve asked.

"An ID for our victim. Obviously, facial identification and fingerprints are out of the question, but I found a match with dental records," Max explained. "Our victim's name is Richard Harrington."

"Brilliant; a name to go with the… well, what remains of the face," Danny trailed off, wincing at his poor choice of words. "Did you find anything else?"

"Yes, I found something rather strange." Max moved towards Harrington's head, and gestured to the side of his neck. "I found some markings that are inconsistent with the victim's injuries from the burns. They appeared to have been made with a blade of some kind. Take a look."

Steve took the magnifying glass that Max offered to them and inspected the area that the pathologist had indicated. It was rather difficult to see in the burnt, blackened skin, but Steve was able to see some lacerations in the skin, and passed the magnifying glass to Danny.

"Do you think this could have contributed to the cause of death, Max?" Danny asked.

"It's difficult to say. The cuts are shallow, but they're close to the carotid artery. It's possible that the killer nicked the carotid and that Mr Harrington died from blood loss, but I'm not sure" Max surmised. "I've sent photos of the markings to Charlie. He might be able to manipulate the photos to determine what the markings are."

"Okay, thanks Max," Steve nodded. "Let's go see Charlie."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Charlie, you got anything for us?" Steve asked as he and Danny strode into the lab.<p>

"Not much, I'm afraid," Charlie said apologetically. "I couldn't get a DNA match from the skin sample that Max sent up; the DNA was too degraded and damaged from the burns."

"Yeah, he told us," Danny interjected. "He got a hit with dental records, though. Chin and Kono are looking up our vic now."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. But, even though I didn't a hit in DNA, I still found something else. There was a minute amount of trace on the skin. Isopropyl alcohol. It's used in loads of different cleaners worldwide, and it's highly flammable."

"Max said that an accelerant had to have been used," Steve recalled. "You can get isopropyl alcohol practically anywhere; it's not that difficult to get your hands on."

"That's a dead-end lead, then," Danny sighed. "What about the photos of the markings that Max sent up? Do you know what they are?"

Fong shook his head, lips pressed into a thin line. "No, sorry. I tried everything I could think of to enhance the photos, but I couldn't make out what they were. This is the best I could do." Charlie brought up the enhanced photos on the screen for Steve and Danny to look at. The markings were more defined than in the morgue, but it still wasn't possible to say for certain what the markings were: whether they were the cause of death, or something entirely different.

"I can't even tell what that's supposed to be," Danny muttered, and looked at Steve. "You got any idea?" Steve shook his head and straightened up again.

"No, I don't know," he sighed as well. "We should get back to HQ; Chin and Kono might have something."

* * *

><p>Chin and Kono were standing at the computer table when Danny and Steve returned to the office. "Hey, what did you get from Max and Charlie?"<p>

"Charlie found traces of isopropyl alcohol on Harrington's skin; he thinks the killer used that as an accelerant," Danny said. "It's a dead-end lead, though; you can that anywhere. It's used in cleaning fluids everywhere. There were some markings on the side of Harrington's neck, as well, but neither Max nor Charlie could figure out what they were. Just that they were inconsistent with his burns."

"It could be something to do with his signature," Kono suggested. "I can set up a search through HPD's cold cases and see if there are any unsolved cases that are similar."

"It's worth a shot," Steve agreed. "What did you guys find on Richard Harrington?"

"Richard Harrington, 40 years old. Lives on Piikoi Street with his wife, Sally. She reported him missing last week," Chin filled them in. "He worked at the First Hawaiian Bank on South Beretania Street."

"Okay, Chin, Kono, you two head over to the bank and talk to his colleagues," Steve instructed. "Danny and I'll go talk to the wife."

* * *

><p>Steve stopped the Camaro in front of the Harringtons' home, and he and Danny headed up the driveway towards the two storey, middle class house. He heard Danny make a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and looked at him.<p>

"See, this is why I don't like bankers," he grumbled. "It's next to impossible to get money from a bank, and if you do, they charge you extortionate amounts to pay it back. Plus, bank managers give themselves bonuses that they don't deserve. We put our lives on the line every single day, while they just do sod all every day."

Steve hummed in agreement. Danny was very touchy when it came to finances; everyone knew that Rachel had taken everything in the divorce and he'd struggled to find a good place to live in in Hawaii. "I know, Danny, but that's the way it is. I don't like it any more than you do, but we just have to suck it up and deal with it."

Danny scrunched up his nose at that. "It's stupid," he muttered.

They had reached the front door by now. "I know," Steve repeated, rapping on the door three times. Almost immediately, the door was opened and a well-dressed woman in her late thirties stood there.

"Yes?"

"Mrs Harrington, I'm Commander Steve McGarrett; this is Detective Danny Williams. We're from Five-0," Steve introduced them.

"Are you here about my husband?" she asked hopefully. "Has he been found?"

"May we come in?" Danny asked gently.

Mrs Harrington frowned and didn't move from the doorway. "Why? Please, just tell me: did you find Rich or not?"

Danny sighed quietly. "Mrs Harrington, your husband was found dead this morning in Laukahi Park."

Mrs Harrington's face fell and she raised a shaking hand to her mouth, slowly shaking her head back and forth. "No... No, please tell me it's not true..."

"I'm so sorry," Steve said sincerely. "Could we come in?"

The shocked woman nodded numbly, and turned and walked into the living room, Steve and Danny following behind her. She collapsed into one of the armchairs with a quiet noise, while the partners perched on the sofa opposite her.

"When did you report your husband missing?" Danny asked.

"Uh... L-Last Friday," she stuttered, an almost detached look on her face. "Rich always went out every Thursday after work with some of his colleagues for a drink, and he'd come home at around half ten, eleven o'clock at night, and when he didn't come home, I started to worry. I didn't report him missing until the next morning, because I know the rule is that it has to be at least 24 hours before you can report someone as missing."

Steve nodded as he listened. "Did Richard ever say he was having issues with someone? Perhaps at work or elsewhere?"

Mrs Harrington shook her head. "No, he never mentioned anything like that happening," she replied. She looked up at them with tearful eyes. "ho could have done this?"

Danny leant forwards and gently squeezed Sally Harrington's hand. "We don't know yet, but we will find out, I promise."

**Is that better? Does that make more sense now? I'm useless after nine in the evening; my brain just switches off after that. Thanks to everyone who pointed that out in the reviews; I probably wouldn't have noticed it. As for including Jodie, nobody seemed to object to that. I'm not going to make her the centre of this story, since she was in RL and I was introducing her to you all. I thought it'd be cool to include Jodie, since she's one of my OCs, and you can make your own characters as you like.  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi, everyone. Remember this story? It's been a little while since I've updated. Life just keeps getting the way. I've had loads of school work to do, and I haven't been particularly well this past month. It just seems like my immune system has decided to go on strike, because I don't know anyone else who can get cellulitis twice in less than a month, and conjunctivitis three times in as many weeks. I've got both right now, so I'm on antibiotics four times a day, as well as eye drops, and my doctor has ordered a blood test for me, because she thinks there's a possibility I may have diabetes, but I don't think so. More than likely I just have a retarded immune system. So yeah; I'm not a very happy bunny right now.  
>Thanks for all the reviews and favourites I've been getting for this story, and sorry for any confusion with the last chapter; I finished writing it at about quarter past eleven, so reading it through wasn't exactly on my mind. But I hope this chapter's okay, and that you enjoy.<strong>

Chin and Kono entered the bank and walked towards one of the workers, tapping away on her keyboard. As they approached, she looked up and smiled at them.

"Good morning. How can I help you?" she asked with a British accent. Her name tag read 'Tamzin'.

Kono removed her badge from her belt and showed it to the young woman. "Yes, we need to speak to you about Richard Harrington."

The friendly smile disappeared from Tamzin's face and was replaced with a scowl. "Oh… What do you want to know about him?"

Chin and Kono frowned at the sudden change in the woman's demeanour. "Richard Harrington was found dead this morning."

"About time, too," she muttered.

"I take it you weren't fond of him, then?" Kono inquired, and Tamzin laughed outright.

"That's a bloody understatement, love," she scoffed, rising from her seat. "If you really want to know, I despised him. I hated his guts. I even thought about bringing my sewing kit into work with me, just so I could stab him in the eyes."

Chin raised an eyebrow. "Does anyone feel the same way?"

Tamzin laughed again. "Everyone feels that way. Everyone hates Richard, and he hates us."

"Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because he's a stingy, selfish bastard, he's a pervert, he makes life a living hell here; you take your pick," Tamzin shrugged.

"He sounds like a joy to work for," Kono remarked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm living the dream, working here," Tamzin said sarcastically. "My boss stares at my ass all day and cuts our budgets with every excuse he can think of. I had 30 per cent of my pay check cut just last month! That's $10,000 a year I'll be worse off now!"

"Why did you never report him to the higher-ups that he was doing all of that?" Kono asked.

"'Cos it would be his word against mine. They'd believe him over me," Tamzin explained. "Besides, it wasn't just the harassment that pissed me off. It was the way he'd flaunt his money in front of us."

"How do you mean?"

Tamzin started to walk towards the back of the bank, and gestured for Chin and Kono to follow here. She led them to the car park and pointed to an Aston Martin DB9 parked right next to the back entrance.

"That is the result of Richard cutting our wages: so there'd be more money for his budget to buy crap he doesn't need. Every day, he shows up in that, toots his horn to announce his arrival so we can lay a red carpet down for him. It was still here when I got to work on Friday, and I thought that the asshole had gone to a whole new level of egoism."

Kono stayed standing next to Tamzin, while Chin moved towards the car to inspect it. "When did you realise that your boss was missing?"

"Monday morning, when the car was still here, and he didn't arrive in some other monstrosity."

"And you didn't think to call the police and report him missing?"

Tamzin laughed at her words. "Are you kidding? Why would we want to spoil the best time of our lives? Richard made our lives horrible; we've been happy this past week, because he hasn't been here."

Kono narrowed her eyes at the young woman. "You know, we're currently looking for suspects."

Tamzin sighed and rolled her eyes. "I may have hated him, but I didn't kill him. I'm sorry for his wife, but not for that bastard. He had it coming."

"Hey Kono, I've got something here," Chin called from next to the car. He was down on all fours, peering under the car, and as Kono came over, he rose back and held up a cloth. The sweet smell hit them both straight away.

"Chloroform," Kono stated, recognising the scent. "The killer must have grabbed him here."

Chin nodded his agreement. "What time did your boss usually leave in the evenings?"

Tamzin shrugged. "I don't know, but he was always the last to leave. I reckon so it was so he could check the money in the safe and pinch a little."

Chin shook his head; her hatred towards Harrington was a little over the top. Behind her, Chin spotted a camera overlooking the car park. "Can you get us the security camera recordings from last week?"

Tamzin looked towards the camera and nodded. "I'll see what I can do," she said, and headed back inside the bank.

"That's a lot of anger towards one person," Chin remarked, raising his eyebrows.

"Mmm," Kono hummed her agreement. "Just means we've got a larger suspect pool. If that's how one person feels, who's to say the rest of the employees don't feel the same?" She pushed herself to her feet. "I'll see if Charlie can get any DNA from this."

"We'll head back to HQ after, and see what Steve and Danny found out from the wife."

* * *

><p>"Harrington's wife reported him missing last Friday morning," Danny reported as Chin and Kono walked back into the office. "According to her, he would go every Thursday for drinks with colleagues, and when he didn't come home, she got worried, and called the police in the morning."<p>

"Well, I don't know what colleagues he was going out with, since everyone at the bank seemed to hate him," Kono replied, garnering raised eyebrows from both Steve and Danny. "We spoke to one of his employees, and she described him as a stingy bastard and a pervert."

"Wow, okay," Steve uttered, almost astonished by the description. "Other than a collective hatred from the employees, did you get anything else?"

Chin held up a memory stick. "Security recordings from cameras outside the bank."

"Great; let's plug it in." Chin inserted the USB stick into one of the ports on the computer table and brought up the recordings. "Go from last Thursday."

The tape started playing, and Chin set it to fast forward. The footage from the afternoon played quickly, people passing by or leaving the bank. Eventually, every car except Harrington's had left the car park, and the man in question exited the back entrance.

"Play it there," Steve ordered, and Chin slowed the tape. Harrington walked slowly across the car park towards his Bentley, gazing down at whatever he was holding in his hands. His attention was solely focused on that, so he never noticed the hooded figure creeping up behind him. The team watched as the killer grabbed Harrington from behind and quickly subdued him with the chloroform-soaked cloth.

"We found the cloth underneath Harrington's car at the bank; the killer must've dropped it there," Chin surmised. "Charlie's looking to see if he can get any DNA off of it. He's going to call us when he's finished."

* * *

><p>Almost half an hour passed before Charlie called. HPD had released a short statement, asking for anyone who had seen or knew anything about Harrington's kidnapping. So far, though, they had only received a couple of calls, but they were only from people wanting their fifteen minutes of fame. Since then, they'd had no leads to follow and had been waiting for Fong to call them.<p>

Kono leant back in her chair, pressing the heels of her palms over her eyes and suppressing a groan of frustration. It was still very early on in the investigation, but this was one of the most disturbing murders they'd had in quite a while, and they had no idea if this was the only murder, or if they would find another victim tomorrow morning.

Her phone vibrating on her desk jerked her out of her thoughts. She snatched it up and left her office, waving the guys over. As they came out, Kono pressed the 'Accept' button and placed the phone on the table.

"Charlie, what do you have for us?"

"_I tried to get some DNA from the cloth, but I only found Harrington's on it. Sorry, guys," _Charlie answered apologetically. _"The killer must have worn gloves."_

"Don't worry about it, Charlie," Steve said, shaking his head. "Thanks, anyway." As Kono hung up, a disappointed silence fell over the team.

"We don't have any more leads to follow, do we?" Kono asked, and the others shook their heads.

"Not yet, no," Danny confirmed. "And until we do, we can't do anything else with this case."

Steve sighed heavily and nodded. "Okay. Let's leave it for now and come back to it tomorrow." Everyone agreed and they left the office for the day, but with the brutality of the killing still weighing on their minds.

**How was that? Good? Bad? Let me know what you all thought in the lovely reviews you always leave for me, while I get to go take more pills and eye drops. Yippee... **


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter for you all. Sorry for the delay with this, but you know; school and real life get in the way of writing. Thanks for the reviews you've all been leaving, and all the well-wishes. I've finished my antibiotics, and both infections have cleared up, and I had my blood test yesterday. I should get the results next week, so thankfully, not a long wait. Speaking of next week, I can't wait for Monday! It's my birthday! What makes it even better is that I get the day off; it was Open Evening last night at school, and we get the Monday off as a thank you from the staff. So Monday's gonna be great :D  
>I hope you like this chapter. It is shorter than the last one, I know, and sorry about that. The next chapter will probably be shorter as well, simply because I decided to split it into two chapters. But enough from me; I hope you enjoy.<strong>

The next morning, when Steve entered the office, he found Danny on his phone to someone. As he came closer, Steve was able to hear what Danny was saying.

"… Know it hurts, baby, but don't rub it; that'll only make it worse," Danny was saying quietly. "I know the eye drops sting, but they'll hurt less as your eye gets better… Of course I will, Monkey. Tell you what? I'll even bring round ice cream." Steve cleared his throat quietly behind Danny, and the detective twisted around, offering a quick wave in greeting. "I've got to go, Grace, but I'll talk to you later, all right…? Danno loves you, too. Bye-bye."

"Is Grace okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, she's okay. She's just caught conjunctivitis, and her eye's really sore," Danny explained, hating that his daughter was hurting and he couldn't help her.

Steve winced in sympathy. He'd had conjunctivitis before, and it was painful. "Poor Grace. I hope she gets better soon."

Danny nodded. "I hope so, too." Steve's phone rang, interrupting their conversation. "Please don't let that be another case; we still haven't gotten anywhere with the Harrington murder."

Steve simply listened to what was being said, and as he did, his jaw tightened and his eyes darkened. "We'll be there soon." He hung up and looked at Danny, who could already tell what had happened. "We've got another body," he said grimly. "It's similar to the first murder."

"Burning? Fuck, what are we dealing with here? A sadistic arsonist?"

"I don't know; maybe," Steve answered as they moved towards the doors. "Call Chin and Kono from the car; let them know what's going on."

* * *

><p>Sandy Beach was normally a favourite of the locals and tourists alike; the golden sand and the warn water beckoned many enthusiastic surfers. The beach had earned a reputation for frequent rip-tides and rough currents, but that made it all the more fun for the more daring surfers.<p>

Right now, though, the beach was anything but fun. HPD officers and crime scene techs were moving about the beach, searching for any evidence, while Max was crouched next to the body. This time, it was a woman, but it was difficult to tell, with the combination of the burns and the start of decomposition.

The sight of it was enough to turn anyone's stomachs; as Steve and Danny walked down onto the beach, a rookie officer ran past them and proceeded to throw up on the sand.

Danny shook his head as they passed the vomiting officer. "Normally, I'd feel a little sympathetic for the rookies, but if they want to make it as a cop, they have to get a grip. Especially if we're dealing with a serial killer here."

"I agree," Steve concurred. "Max, talk to us."

"I don't have very much as of yet, Commander. Obviously, the victim suffered burns over the majority of her body, and appear to be a mixture of first, second and third degree burns," the medical examiner explained.

"I know I'm wrong here, but how are you sure that this is the same killer?" Danny asked. "These murders are disturbingly similar, but they're not exactly the same."

"I found this." Max carefully turned the woman's head to reveal her neck, where a '1' had been carved into her skin.

"Shit," Steve murmured, running a hand down his face.

"1. What significance does '1' have?"

"I don't know, but we're going find out," Steve said, a steely, determined glint in his eyes. "Max, do you have a time of death?"

"Decomposition begins around a week after a body has been in water, and based on the rate of decomposition here, I would estimate that she has been in the water for at least 10 days," Max explained. "As for TOD, I would estimate it to be less than 24 hours before she was placed in the water."

"All right; keep us informed, Max," Danny requested, and the short man nodded.

* * *

><p>"Max managed to get a fingerprint from the victim by re-inflating the skin on her fingers. We got a hit," Kono started as Danny and Steve entered the office. "Our victim's name is Laura Henderson. She was reported missing two weeks ago by her sister, Charlotte."<p>

"The killer took her first, then Richard Harrington," Danny realised. "1. Victim number 1."

"This psycho's going down a list," Chin murmured with sickening realisation. "He's marking which number each victim is."

"Right, okay, we need to find this guy," Steve said. "Where was Laura Henderson last seen?"

"Her car was parked outside her house, so HPD assumed she was taken from there," Kono replied.

"So either she somehow knew the killer, or he got the drop on her," Danny surmised. "He managed to jump Harrington as well before he even realised what was going on."

"He stalked them," Steve interjected. "The killer stalked them, learnt their routines and figured out when would be the best time to grab them. After he killed Laura Henderson, he had two weeks to learn Richard Harrington's routine."

"We need to find a link between Harrington and Henderson," Chin stated, and everyone silently agreed with him.

"Right, okay; Danny, Kono, you guys see if you can find a link between the victims. Anything, alright? Bank, doctor, club, even where they shopped; anything that might tie Richard Harrington to Laura Henderson," Steve ordered. "Chin, let's go talk to the sister."

**Do you know what? I don't think I've ever been quite so angry with TV writers before in my entire life. If you were watching Casualty tonight, you'll know what I'm talking about. I just yelled at the television "You bastards!" Seriously, it's not fair! Why'd they have to do that?**

**Right, that's enough of me whining. The next chapter is already in the works, and I will get it up when I can; probably some time next week, depending on how much time real life gives me. But for now, read, review, follow or favourite, please x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, so discount everything I said in the last chapter about this chapter taking a week to do. I knew it was going to be short, but I didn't realise it would be quite so short, although I did split up this chapter and the last one into two. But yay, it's done, and I can relax for the rest of my birthday. I've had a lovely day so far; got some Bon Jovi CDs, a proper makeup kit from my neighbours and some lovely earrings from my parents and my brother. I've also found out the date that Season 5 starts in the UK. 19th October. Only two weeks to go before all the good TV comes back for winter!  
><strong>**Thanks for the reviews I've already gotten for the last chapter; you guys are great, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**

Chin and Steve approached Charlotte Henderson's house and rapped on the door. After a couple of moments, the door was opened and a young woman in her late twenties peered around the door.

"Hello?"

"Miss Henderson, I'm Detective Kelly; this is my colleague, Commander McGarrett. We're with Five-0," Chin introduced them both. "We're here about your sister, Laura."

"Have you found her?" Charlotte asked, hopefulness appearing on her face. "Is she alive? Is she okay?"

"May we come in?" Steve asked.

Charlotte's face fell, and Steve and Chin could see tears gathering in her eyes. "Laura's dead, isn't she? You've found her body."

"We have; I'm sorry," Steve confirmed.

"I suppose you'd better come in, then." Charlotte turned and headed back inside, Steve and Chin following her into the kitchen. "Um… W-Would you like a cup of tea, or…?"

"No, thank you, Miss Henderson," Chin politely declined. She nodded, but moved around the kitchen, starting a cup of tea anyway. "You reported your sister missing two weeks ago?"

"Yes, um, Laura and I were supposed to go for counselling. When she didn't show, I went round to her house. I thought she was still home and had maybe slept through her alarm or something like that, because her car was still in the driveway, but I found her hand bag in the bushes by the wall. That's when I called the police."

"If you don't mind my asking, why were you and Laura having counselling?" Steve asked.

Charlotte looked down and started to curl her fingers into a fist, but then stopped as if she realised what she was doing. "Laura… slept with my husband," she muttered.

Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Your sister slept with your husband?"

"Yeah. Last year. The affair went on for six months, before Adam told me what had been going on," she explained. "At first, I was furious and I kicked Adam out and I… I lashed out at Laura. Laura kept apologising, though; kept saying she didn't mean to hurt me. After a while, I saw that she really was sorry. And she was still my sister, so I decided to give her a chance. We've been going to counselling for two months now, and our relationship is finally starting to improve."

"And what about your husband?" Chin inquired.

"I'm divorcing Adam," Charlotte sighed. "I can't… I can't stay with him, knowing he was sleeping with my sister."

"Miss Henderson, do you know if Laura knew Richard Harrington in any way?" Chin asked.

"Um, I-I don't know," she said. "We've only just started to be able to have civil conversations with each other. Did he do this? Did he kill my sister?"

"Laura was killed in a similar manner to a case we received yesterday," Steve explained. "We're trying to find something to link your sister with our previous victim."

"Well, like I said, I don't know if she knew the guy or not," Charlotte repeated. "I'm sorry I can't help you more."

"You've been a massive help, Miss Henderson," Steve reassured her. "And I promise we're going to find whoever did this to Laura." Charlotte nodded and escorted them back to the door.

"Detectives, can I just ask...? How did Laura die?" she asked. "I mean, was it painless?"

Steve and Chin exchanged a look with each other, before Chin answered, "Miss Henderson, I'm sorry, but we can't discuss the case at this point in time."

Charlotte nodded. "Okay, I understand. Please... Please stop whoever's doing this."

"We will," he promised.

* * *

><p>"Danny, Kono, is there anything to link Laura Henderson to Richard Harrington?" Steve asked as he and Chin returned to the office.<p>

"No, there is absolutely nothing to tie them to each other," Kono replied, shaking her head. "They lived and worked on opposite sides of the city; they used different banks. There's no link between them."

"It seems like our killer is just picking victims on the street at random," Danny added, even though he doubted his own words.

Steve didn't think so, either, shaking his head. "No, there is something to link Laura Henderson and Richard Harrington. It's just a matter of finding it. Has Charlie called?"

"Yeah, he did," Danny answered, sounding a little confused, which caused Steve to frown.

"What? What did he say?"

"Charlie tested a sample of Laura's skin to see if the killer used isopropyl alcohol again, but he didn't find any traces of it."

"What did he find?" Chin asked, not sure if this was good or bad.

"Sulphur."

"Sulphur?" Steve and Chin both repeated. "Why sulphur?"

"Maybe the killer's experimenting?" Kono suggested. "Maybe he's trying out different methods until he finds one he likes."

Steve's frown deepened. "Possibly. I still don't think he's picking victims at random, though; there has to be a link. We just need to find it."

Danny, Chin and Kono exchanged a look together, silently communicating with each other. "Steve, I… I don't want to say it, but you know what we need to find the link."

Sighing heavily, Steve deflated and ran a hand down his face. "I know. More victims."

**Another shortie, I know, but just bear with me. The next chapter will be longer, I promise**


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh my God, I know it's been ages since I updated, and I am so sorry about the delay. This little thing known as real life got in the way; I've been so busy with school, setting up a homework routine that helps me keep on top of the mountain of prep I get every week. It's taken me six weeks to establish a routine to help me survive the next two years. I really hope it works...  
><strong>**On a happier note, though, Season 5 started on Sunday night! That was a great first episode; I loved it when Chin drove past the obvious IA surveillance and said "I'm heading up to a crime scene on Diamond Head. Just in case you lose me", and he's got a real nice car as well now! Mach 1 Mustang! It's a classic! And everyone else was right about Danny being a BAMF. Loved it!  
>Anyway, enough jibber-jabber from me; here is the longer chapter I promised, and I hope you enjoy.<strong>

The team decided to take a break, and return to the case later. Chin and Kono had offered to do a coffee run, leaving Steve and Danny in the office. As Steve was making his way through the mountain of paperwork sitting on his desk, he glanced up through the glass walls towards Danny's office and saw his partner staring hard at his computer, a deep frown on his face.

Frowning at the blond's pensive state, Steve got up and headed across the bullpen towards Danny's office. Danny didn't even notice Steve until he pushed the door open, startling slightly but relaxing once he realised it was only the SEAL.

"What's got you thinking so hard, Danno?" Steve asked, leaning against the desk.

Danny shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm just looking through HPD's files to see if there's anything similar to these murders," he explained. "The way the victims were killed and the killer disposed of them says that the perp has done this before. Either that, or they've thought this through very, very carefully."

Steve nodded in agreement. "I agree, but I don't know if you'll find anything in HPD's files," he countered, playing devil's advocate. "This is a very unusual case. I doubt anyone's seen this sort of thing before."

"I know, I know," Danny said, rubbing his brow. "But if we've got a killer who's into sadism as well as arson, that's a very dangerous combination."

"And that's why we've got to find this guy fast." Steve finished speaking as the doors opened and Chin and Kono returned with coffee and malasadas. Steve and Danny followed them into the break room as they set the food down on the table.

"You guys didn't, by any chance, manage to solve the case while we were gone, did you?" Kono asked hopefully around a malasada.

"Sorry," Danny shook his head. "We've got nothing. I looked in HPD's cold case files to see if there was anything similar there, but they've got nothing as well." He grinned slightly at Kono's groan.

They fell into silence for several minutes, the need for food and caffeine beating the need to talk. After his third malasada, Chin eventually broke the silence.

"So, what's our next move?" Nobody had an answer. In reality, there wasn't anything else they could do at this point; they had nothing to go on. No DNA, no fingerprints, no connection. The only thing they could do was wait until the killer claimed another victim.

* * *

><p>The case went cold again for another week, leaving the team on tenterhooks, waiting for the next call. Danny and Kono had done a lunch run, and when they returned to the office, they were greeted by Steve and Chin, both looking very grim.<p>

Danny knew immediately what had happened. "Another victim?" he asked warily, and Steve nodded.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "We've got another victim."

The entire apartment building was swarming with various people by the time the team arrived. HPD officers were going to every door on every floor, speaking to the other residents, while reporters were clamouring outside the building at the news that the killer had claimed a third victim.

Climbing the stairs to the top floor, they spotted Duke coming out of the victim's apartment. He acknowledged the team with a nod,

"Duke, what do we know?" Steve asked.

"Victim is inside. His girlfriend found him when she came back from a shopping trip," he replied, gesturing for them to follow him back into the flat. "There's something you should know first."

"What?" Steve asked warily.

"The killer changed his MO."

That stopped the team in their tracks, surprise covering their faces. "Really?"

"The victim wasn't burned?" Danny braved the question.

Duke shook his head. "No. His signature is still the same; the vic had a '3' carved into his skin."

"Why the sudden change in MO?" Kono wondered aloud.

"Who knows?" Duke asked, stopping by the living room door. "This guy's a psycho; who knows what goes on in his mind?"

Steve hummed his agreement, and turned to the rest of the team. "Danny, Chin, speak to the officers out here – see what they've found out from other residents so far – and get rid of the press."

The detectives nodded and headed back out of the flat. "You're talking to the press; I'm not doing those stairs again with my knee…" Danny's voice faded away as they left.

"Kono, you're with me." They followed Duke into the living room, where they found Max stood next to the victim, cutting cable ties from around his wrists. A '3' had been carved into his neck, the slashes standing out against his pale skin. "Max, give us something good."

"Well, I haven't been able to examine the victim properly yet, but based on the petechial haemorrhaging in his eyes and the bluish tint of his skin, I believe that he died of asphyxiation," Max explained.

"That's quite a deviation from burning," Kono observed.

Steve narrowed his eyes as he looked at the victim for himself. The man was heavily overweight; obese, even. He had deep lacerations from the cable ties, and his mouth and eyes were wide with silent terror. "There aren't any ligature marks or bruising around his neck, though," he pointed out. "Nothing else that you would expect to see with an asphyxiation victim."

"Strangulation, Commander McGarrett, is not the only way to asphyxiate a person," Max replied, inspecting the victim's mouth closely and frowning. "Throat blockages, for example." He reached for a pair of tweezers and carefully pushed them down the man's throat. As he drew them back, no-one expected to see what he removed.

"W-Well," Steve stuttered. "That's, uh… That's a first for me."

"Are those… Are those frogs' legs?" Kono asked, not quite trusting her eyes.

"They are indeed, Officer Kalakaua," Max answered. "And this, Commander, is also a first for me."

"Yeah." Leaving Max to carry on prepping the vic for transport, Steve, Kono and Duke headed back outside. "Do we have an ID yet on the vic?"

"His name is Stefan Bowen. His girlfriend found him when she came back from shopping two hours ago," Duke reported. "She's outside."

"Okay, so a man is killed in the middle of the day in his apartment, and nobody hears a thing?" Steve questioned. "No screaming or shouting, or struggles?"

"Apparently not," Lukela replied. "But in this part of the city, people tend not to notice that sort of thing; they keep to themselves."

Shaking his head, Steve sought out Danny speaking to a couple of uniformed officers. "Did you get anything from HPD?"

"Not much. No-one heard anything – big surprise there – but they were all more than happy to say what they thought of Stefan Bowen," Danny answered.

"And that was?"

"That he was a complete waste of space and a pathetic excuse for a human being."

Steve raised his eyebrows at that assessment. "Guess he wasn't much of a saint, then," he surmised.

"Doesn't look like it. What did you get from Max?"

"The killer suffocated Bowen by stuffing frogs' legs down his throat."

Danny's eyebrows flew up to his hairline. "F-Frogs'… Frogs' legs?" he repeated. "Are you serious? This psycho stuffed frogs' legs down his throat?"

"I'm not kidding. Wish I were, but I'm not."

"That's… That's not right," Danny managed to say.

"I know it's not," Steve agreed. "Let's get back to the office; we're not going to get anything else from here."

* * *

><p>"What links Human Jabba to a banker and a woman who slept with her brother-in-law?" Danny wondered aloud as they returned to HQ.<p>

"Well, that's what we've got to find out," Steve replied. "We need to try and find some kind of connection, so check everything you can think of: banks, work, shops, club memberships, whatever."

"Wait, Steve, we couldn't find anything between Laura Henderson and Richard Harrington, so we might not find anything to associate them with Stefan Bowen, either," Chin pointed out.

"What about if they met online?" Kono interjected.

"You mean like a chat room?" Danny asked.

"Exactly."

"That's possible," Steve agreed. "Chin, can you cross-reference their search histories with each other? See if they visited any of the same sites."

"I can, but it's going to take some time," he replied.

"Well, based on the killer's pattern, we've got nothing but time for now," Danny pointed out.

"True," Chin nodded, and set about hacking the browsing histories. A minute later, he nodded in satisfaction. "There, that's running now. It'll tell us if there's a correlating site in their histories."

"Okay, good," Steve nodded.

"Am I the only one who still thinks it's a long shot that we'll find a link between the victims this way?" Danny asked. "Harrington was upper-class, but Henderson and Bowen were both working-class. Bowen even lived off benefits."

"I know it seems like a long shot, but it's the best we can do right now," Steve countered.

"I know," Danny conceded. "I just feel like we should be doing more to get this whackjob off the streets."

"What about motive?" Kono suddenly piped up. "Suddenly switching from burning to asphyxia is quite a jump, and that's if you don't count the frogs' legs."

"That's true," Chin agreed. "Most serials don't just randomly change their method of killing. There's got to be some kind of reason for changing."

"It's actually almost like the killer wants them to suffer," Steve hypothesized. "Burning and suffocation, they're two of the most painful and terrifying ways to die."

"Is he punishing them?" Kono asked.

"Maybe," Danny said. "He wants to cause them pain. We just need to find out why."

Steve's phone rang, interrupting their musings. "It's Charlie," he stated, and raised the phone to his ear. "Charlie, what have you got for us…? Are you serious...? That's brilliant. We'll be there soon." Hanging up, Steve looked at the others. "Charlie found some DNA on the cable ties from our killer. He's got an ID."

**I hope this was worth the long wait. It's half-term next week, so, once my homework is done and out of the way, I'll be free to write for the rest of the week. Until then, I bid you adieu x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay, I managed to update in less than a week! I think that's an impressive feat for me right now, considering the amount of work I'm having to do at the moment. I've been having quite a bit of trouble with Chemistry; some of the concepts are extremely hard to wrap your head around. But I'm finally starting to get the hang of it... at least, I hope. I had a test this week, and I didn't get quite so good a mark on that, so I'm going to redo it. I'm on half-term now, though, which means I have an entire week off for some (I think) well-deserved R&R, and to revise for the test again.  
><strong>**Thanks for the reviews you've all been leaving. Everyone's starting to build their own theories of the killer's motives, but I won't reveal just yet who's got it right. I'm going to leave you all in suspense for just a little bit longer. I'm cruel, I know, but hey, it's fun to be cruel sometimes XD**

"Charlie, give us something good," Steve called out as he and Danny strode into the lab. "Who'd the DNA come back to?"

"Miriam Joseph." Charlie brought up a photo of a young woman on the computer. She couldn't have been more than twenty-four or twenty-five.

Danny frowned at the picture of the petite young woman. "You know, she doesn't really look the type to be able to kill three people," he remarked.

"No, she doesn't," Steve agreed. "But her DNA was found on Stefan Bowen, so she's involved in this, somehow." The SEAL turned to Charlie and flashed him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Charlie."

"No problem, guys," the scientist replied. "Let me know if there's anything else you want me to do."

* * *

><p>"What do we know about Miriam Joseph?" Steve asked as he and Danny returned to HQ. Danny had called the cousins from the car and filled them in on what Charlie had found.<p>

"Very little to connect her to the victims," Chin reported. "She works at the Sunset Beach café during the week, which is where Bowen's girlfriend works, but that's the only connection she has to the victims."

"Okay. You guys go pick her up," Steve said. "We'll try and establish some kind of link between Miriam Joseph and the victims."

"Sure. Back soon, brah," Kono called over her shoulder as she and Chin moved towards the exit.

Steve watched them go, then turned to look at Danny. The blond detective was staring at the photos of the crime scenes, frowning slightly and nibbling on his bottom lip as he did when he was deep in thought. "Danny?" His partner looked up sharply, as if he had forgotten that Steve was with him. "Do you want to share whatever's got you thinking so hard?"

Danny looked back down at the photos and shook his head. "There's something about these murders," he murmured. "There's something… I don't know, something _familiar _about them."

"Have you had a case like this before?" Steve asked, but Danny shook his head in the negative.

"That's the thing; I've never had a case like this before, but I know that I've seen something like this before."

"Don't linger on it; it'll just drive you crazy," Steve advised. "It might come back to you, though." Danny nodded, but said nothing.

* * *

><p>Chin and Kono entered the Sunset Beach café and headed towards the counter. A young man who was stood behind smiled at them as they came in.<p>

"Hi, can I take your orders?"

Chin held his badge up for the kid to see. "Maybe later," he replied. "Is Miriam Joseph working today?"

"Yeah, she is, but she's on a break right now," the young man answered.

"Where does she take her breaks?"

"In the back room. Last door on the left down there."

Kono nodded. "Thanks." As the cousins headed towards the back room, the door opened and Miriam Joseph came out. She was a very petite woman, barely reaching five feet, with mousy-brown hair and hunched shoulders. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Chin and Kono approaching. For a moment, Miriam stood there, shoulders quaking as she stared at them, before she suddenly turned and dashed for the back door. Chin and Kono exchanged a look with each other before they followed Miriam.

The back door of the café led to an alleyway, rubbish piled up against the walls on both sides. Not only did it make the alley smell very ripe, but it provided places for Miriam to hide from the cousins. Kono ran out into the alleyway and looked up both ends, hair whipping her face, as she searched for the woman.

"I don't see her," Kono groaned. "Do you?"

Chin turned slowly and carefully, inspecting every inch of the alley as thoroughly as was possible from where he stood. She was here, he knew; there wasn't any way that she would have been able to run that quickly.

A small noise to his left had him whipping his head around, and he and Kono both pulled their weapons from their holsters. Slowly, they moved towards where the noise had originated from. Kono reached out cautiously and grabbed one of the rubbish bags, flinging it to the side. As she did, Miriam Joseph shrieked and raised her arms as if to protect herself from them.

"Peek-a-boo." Kono stared down at the terrified woman. "I see you."

* * *

><p>Steve and Danny watched Miriam Joseph sitting in the steel chair in the middle of the interrogation room, cowering slightly and refusing to look up at either of them. She hadn't said a word to either Chin or Kono when they had brought her back to HQ.<p>

"Miriam, I'm sure you know why you're here," Danny started. "We're investigating a case, and we found your DNA at one of the crime scenes." He waited a beat to allow Miriam to speak, but she remained silent. "Care to explain how that happens?"

Miriam simply shook her head, keeping her gaze on the floor. "I can't…" she whispered almost inaudibly.

Danny sighed and crouched down in front of her, intercepting her gaze. "Alright, Miriam, listen to me. You could be facing life imprisonment, okay, and prison is not nice. It is, in a nutshell, a struggle for survival. Now, I don't think you did this, and I don't want to see you go down for this." Pausing for a second, Danny studied her face to see if she had understood what he had told her. "So I am going to ask you again: how did your DNA end up at the crime scene?"

Miriam's lower lip quivered. "I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to hurt anyone. But… he… he made me…"

"Who? Who made you do it?" Steve asked, stepping forwards.

That was as much as Miriam was willing to reveal; she shook her head vigorously, tears dripping down her cheeks. "No! I can't! I… He'll know, and… You'll hurt him. I can't let you hurt him."

"Miriam, whoever is forcing you to do this is hurting you," Danny countered. "You didn't want to do this, but he's making you. I want to help you, but you need to tell me who made you do this."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry; I… I can't."

Danny rose to his feet again and left swiftly, shoving the door open. Miriam flinched as it banged off the cinder-block wall.

Steve watched him go, and turned back to Miriam, pulling her up from the chair and cuffing her hands behind her back. "Miriam Joseph, you're under arrest on suspicion of three counts of first degree murder and two counts of abduction. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights I have just read you?" he recited the Miranda rights word for word. There was no way he was going to screw up this case, and if that meant doing everything by the book, then so be it. As he led her from the room, Steve murmured in her ear, "If I would you, I would seriously reconsider doing what you're about to do."

* * *

><p>They told him that Miriam had been arrested. Two cops from Five-0 had shown up and taken her away. He couldn't believe it. Why? Why did they have to interfere? Couldn't they see that this had to be done? He had to do this. If not him, then who else?<p>

She would keep quiet, though; that he was sure of. She wouldn't betray him like that. He had taught her better than that. Her absence wouldn't make much difference, either; he didn't really need her help for this, but she had to learn. After all, if not her, then who else?

**A bit of a fast-paced, short chapter, but I hope everyone liked that. Let me know in your reviews what you thought of that. And I know that I said I have a week off now, but at the moment, it's looking unlikely that I'll get the next chapter up any time soon, since I'm extremely busy this weekend and I've had a crap-load of homework set for me by my oh-so-lovely teachers. But I will get it up when I can; you're just going to have to be patient with my A-Level schedule, I'm afraid.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, so I managed to finish all my homework pretty quickly, actually, which left my week wide open for relaxation and writing; I've even managed to finish the next chapter as well. It started out as one chapter, but I felt it was getting too long, so I split it into two chapters.  
><strong>**I have had a lovely day out with Skyflower51 and our best friends; we went ice skating in London, where we fell over loads (bruises are now showing up all over my body), we ate at this posh French café which was ridiculously expensive, and then headed up to Covent Garden for a touch of window shopping. We didn't get a lot of time there, because we had to be back on the train before four o'clock, because of the peak travel times, and finished with Halloween. We've got some good decorations, but we've got nothing on my neighbour, who absolutely _adores _Halloween. So, because I've had an absolutely brilliant day, I'm going to post both chapters tonight for you. Enjoy! **

Danny and Steve strode back into HQ, slamming the glass door open and coming dangerously to shattering the glass.

"Did it not go well with Miriam?" Kono asked warily.

"She told us that she didn't do this herself," Danny replied. "But I don't think any of us had any doubt of that. She clammed up after that, though; wouldn't tell us who forced her to do this."

"I think she's afraid of him," Steve added. "I think she's afraid that he'll know she told, and come after her."

"So basically, we're still stuck at square one?" Chin summarised. "No link and no credible suspects?"

"'Fraid so," Danny confirmed, and ran his fingers through his hair. "God, this is the worst situation a cop can ever be in."

"And it's just going to get worse from here on out," Kono sighed.

* * *

><p>Now. He had to do it now. He couldn't put it off any longer. This had to be done now. He had watched from a distance, scrutinising the devil's moves. It hadn't been too hard, but he had waited for long enough now. It was time to carry out his duty.<p>

* * *

><p>Danny, Chin and Kono all flinched as they heard Steve swear loudly in his office.<p>

"Oh, that does not sound good," Danny murmured, staring at their leader's office, where the SEAL had curled his fingers into his hair and had his eyes scrunched closed. The others knew that this was not normal for their stoic team leader, and frankly they were all starting to feel concerned.

As if sensing their gazes on him, Steve's eyes snapped open and he turned sharply to look at the team. He swallowed heavily as he walked around his desk and left his office.

"Is everything okay, Steve?" Kono asked cautiously, knowing everything was not okay.

Steve wet his lips with his tongue before answering. "That was, er… That was Duke. We've got victim number 4 now."

Alarm grew in all of them at that news. "But… But it's only been three days!" Kono exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "There's always been at least a week between the murders!"

"I know, Kono, and that's why, as of now, this case is our highest priority," Steve replied. The determined glint had once again returned to his eyes. "All other cases will be handed to HPD until this one is closed. This is to be our only focus for now." No-one argued.

* * *

><p>The Camaro and the Cruze skidded to a stop outside the house, and the Five-0 team got out and strode towards the building. The HPD and CSU personnel at the scene all parted for them; everyone knew how high-profile this case was, and no-one was stupid enough to get in the way of Steve McGarrett when he was out to catch a killer.<p>

"Duke?" Steve called out as the team entered the house. "Fill me in."

The sergeant left the living room, a harried look on his face. "It's bad, Steve," he started. "We got the call just under an hour ago. A kid – Chris Lawrence – was found convulsing in his room. He had a '4' carved into his neck. The mom called an ambulance, and then us."

"Do we have any idea yet what caused this?" Danny asked.

"Not yet. I've got HPD searching the kid's room with CSU to try and find some evidence, but so far, we haven't found anything."

"Is the kid still alive?" Steve interjected. A surviving victim was the best thing that could possibly happen for this case.

"As far as we know," Duke replied. "We haven't had any word back from the hospital yet."

Steve nodded. "Let's assume he's still alive," he said. "Chin, Kono, head over to the hospital. Speak to his mother and his doctor. If you're able to, speak to Chris as well." The cousins nodded and left.

"The victim's father is in here," Duke added, leading them into the living room. A man in his late-forties was sat on the sofa, head in his hands, not acknowledging their presence. "Mr Lawrence, this is the Five-0 taskforce; they'll be investigating your son's case."

The distraught father raised his head to look at Steve and Danny with bloodshot eyes. "Are you going to find who did this to my son?" he croaked.

"We'll do our best to do so, sir," Steve promised. "We need to ask you a few questions, though."

Mr Lawrence nodded. "O-Of course. What do you need to know?"

"Can you tell us exactly what happened? Can you walk us through it?" Danny asked.

"Umm… I don't- I don't even know myself exactly what happened," Lawrence admitted. "I was at work until half past twelve. I only have to drive fifteen minutes to work, so I usually come home during the day so I can have lunch here. Jen called me when I was driving back; said there was something wrong with Chris. By the time I got here, he was already having a fit and the ambulance was here and…" He stopped suddenly, pressing a fist against his mouth and trembling slightly. "I don't even know if he's still alive," he whispered.

Steve and Danny paused for a few moments to allow the father to compose himself again before continuing. "Mr Lawrence, your son had a four cut into his neck. We've been investigating a case where the killer numbers his victims."

His eyes widened as what little colour remaining drained from his face. "Wha… My boy's the victim of a serial killer?" he repeated, horrified.

"It's the killer's signature," Danny confirmed. "We're still trying to establish a link between the victims."

"Do the names Richard Harrington, Laura Henderson or Stefan Bowen sound familiar at all?" Steve asked.

Mr Lawrence thought for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, I don't recognise those names; I'm sorry."

"It's all right; don't get worked about it," Danny calmed him.

Mr Lawrence looked away from them, towards several photos on a bookshelf. Most of them showed a young boy in various stages of childhood. "Why would someone do this to my son?" he asked, almost to himself. "He… He's just a kid. Why do this?"

A loud curse from the bedrooms had Steve and Danny, along with Duke, sprinting to the back of the house. The CSU techs were running from the room as if the devil himself were chasing them, while two HPD officers had their guns pointed towards the doorway.

"What the hell is going on?" Duke demanded, glaring at his officers.

Steve grabbed one of the techs as he ran past. "What happened?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"Th-There- There… There's a snake in there!" he yammered in terror, before yanking his arm out of Steve's grip and bolting down the hallway.

Steve turned to Duke. "Call Animal Control," he ordered, and Duke nodded, grabbing his radio, as he and Danny each removed their guns from their holsters and entered the room, the two HPD officers following behind them.

Chris' room was a tip; clothes seemed to litter every surface here, along with a small pile of plates and glasses by the bed. A schoolbag lay in front of a chest of drawers, papers littered around it. The curtains were still drawn, plunging the room into near-darkness. Steve thought it was a wonder the techs had managed to see anything at all in here.

A quiet hiss had him whirling around and pointing his gun in the direction of the wardrobe. He glanced at Danny, who confirmed with a quick nod that he had also heard it, and slowly withdrew his torch from his pocket. He flicked the switch and pointed the beam towards the wardrobe. There was a guttural hiss, and a small snake reared up, baring its fangs at the partners.

Steve squinted as he took in the snake's colouring. "Red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, friend of Jack," he recited the rhyme. The snake had yellow on either side of its red bands. "That's a coral snake."

"How potent is their venom?" Danny asked, never taking his eyes off the snake.

"Extremely," Steve answered shortly. "Its venom is a neurotoxin. It paralyses the breathing muscles and causes respiratory failure."

"God," Danny murmured.

"Call Chin. Tell him to tell the doctor it was a coral snake. Chris needs antivenin now." Danny slowly backed out of the room, extracting his phone from his pocket. As soon as he was out of the room, he sighed heavily and quickly dialled Chin's number.

He bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently, as the phone rang one, two, three times. "Pick up," he growled.

"_Danny?"_

"Chin, listen to me…"

* * *

><p>Chin hung up with Danny and looked urgently at Kono. "The kid was bitten by a coral snake."<p>

"Seriously?" Kono questioned, eyes wide with disbelief. "They're not native to Hawaii, though."

"Well, they found a really pissed off coral snake in Chris' bedroom," Chin replied, and strode to the front desk, looming over the surprised receptionist. "Page Chris Lawrence's doctor."

"I'm sorry; I can't-"

"This involves the patient's life," Chin shouted, cutting across her words. "Now page his doctor or I will hold you personally responsible for that boy's death."

The now terrified woman nodded jerkily and called for a Doctor Meritts to come to the waiting room. Nearly five minutes passed before the doctor made an appearance. He was in his mid to late-fifties, with salt and pepper hair, but with an air of authority about him.

"This had better be important, dammit," he snapped at the poor receptionist. "I'm still trying to diagnose my patient."

"Doctor Meritts, I'm sorry," Chin apologised. "I'm Detective Kelly with the Governor's taskforce. We're investigating Chris Lawrence's attack. Two of my colleagues found a coral snake in his room."

"Are they sure it's a coral snake?" Dr Meritts asked urgently, the irritation long gone and replaced with anxiety. "It can be incredibly tricky, treating snake bites."

"My boss identified it as a coral snake; it has touching red and yellow bands," Chin confirmed. "You need to give Chris antivenin now."

"Yes, I know," Meritts nodded. "Thank you; you may have just saved the boy's life." He turned and dashed back through the double doors, leaving Chin and Kono to wonder if they had been quick enough.

* * *

><p>Danny hung up with Chin as he watched Animal Control carry the snake out of the house, coiled in the back of the cage and hissing angrily.<p>

"Chris Lawrence has been given the antivenin," he filled Steve in as the SEAL came out. "Now it's just a matter of wait-and-see."

"Hopefully, he got it in time," Steve replied.

"Where do you get venomous snakes?" Danny wondered. "I mean, it's not like you can just walk into a pet shop and ask for a coral snake. "

"Plus coral snakes aren't indigenous to Hawaii," Steve added. "The only thing I can think of is the killer stole it from a zoo."

"Then let's start there," the detective said, spreading his hands as if it were obvious. "I can check with HPD if they've had any reports of thefts at any zoos in Honolulu."

"Do that," Steve nodded. "Get Miriam back in the interrogation room, as well. We need to talk to her again."


	9. Chapter 9

"We've got three bodies in the morgue, Miriam, and a sixteen-year-old in the hospital," Danny started as he stood in front of the young woman, once again sat in the metal chair, hands cuffed to the seat. "We need you to tell us everything you know, okay?"

Miriam wouldn't look up at either him or Steve. "I can't," she murmured. "I told you can't."

"Why not?" he pressed. "You told us yourself; you don't want to do this. So why won't you say who it is?"

"You'll hurt him," she whispered, eyes full of tears.

"Miriam, we won't hurt him if we can help it," Danny said. "But you need to help us here, okay? Tell us who he is." Miriam let out a little sob and shook her head.

"Who is he to you?" Steve asked suddenly, tilting his head and regarding her appraisingly. "Is he your husband? Boyfriend? Brother?" Miriam stiffened slightly when Steve mentioned 'brother' and risked a glance at him. Steve raised his eyebrows, knowing he was right. "He's your brother. That's why you're protecting him."

Danny frowned slightly as he saw Miriam start shaking. There was definitely a reason why Miriam was protecting her brother, but she was obviously fragile; they would have to question her gently to get that reason out of her. However, he and everyone else knew that Steve often bypassed the gentle approach and opted for the direct approach.

"Your brother is a killer," Steve continued, taking a step forward and oblivious to the fact that he was intimidating Miriam. "And you are protecting him. You are as bad as he is."

Danny grasped his forearm, squeezing it slightly. "Steve, ease up," he warned.

Steve carried on, ignoring Danny. "Do you secretly enjoy killing these people? Is that it?" he demanded, voice growing loudly.

Miriam let out a little sob and shook her head. "N-No, th-that's not it…"

"Then what is it?" Steve shouted, looming over her, ignoring the fact that tears were now streaming down her face.

"Steve, that's enough," Danny interjected, alarmed at Miriam's distress.

"Why are you lying to us?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Danny bellowed, voice echoing around the room. "Back off, Steven!"

Steve glared at Danny, panting as if he had just run a race. Making a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, he turned and stormed out. Danny watched him go, an appalled look on his face, but covered his outrage as he turned back to the young woman.

"Miriam, I'm going to get someone from HPD to take you back to your cell, okay?" She nodded and sniffed loudly. "All right; good girl." Giving her a quick pat on the shoulder, Danny stormed out after McGarrett and found him pacing the corridor. He saw his own anger reflected in his partner's eyes.

"What the hell, Danny?" Steve barked, spreading his arms wide as the detective approached.

"I could ask you the same thing!" he retorted. "Scaring her like that? What the hell were you thinking?"

"She knows where her brother is, and she's withholding that information from us!"

"I know that, McGarrett!" Danny yelled. "But she is obviously terrified of her brother, so of course she's not going to be willing to talk. Furthermore, browbeating her into talking is not going to work."

"At least it's better than your approach!" Steve bit back. "You'd just bore them into talking! How the hell you even solved a case like that is beyond me!"

Danny was speechless for a moment. "Alright. If my approach is so rubbish, solve this case without me, then." Without another word, Danny pushed past Steve and stormed away down the corridor. If he had looked back, he would have seen a hurt look cross Steve's face.

By the time he reached the car par, Danny was absolutely fuming. He reached the Camaro and paced back and forth a few times. His anger at Steve intensified, and he found himself whirling around and pounding his fist into the hood of the Camaro. Pain rippled through his hand, but Danny ignored it and punched the metal a second time, a third time.

After the fifth punch, Danny stopped and took a deep breath. The stress of this investigation was getting to them all; it was an awful case, and it just happened to be now that the stress of it all bubbled over. All he and Steve could do for now was take the rest of the day to cool off and return to the case tomorrow. Collapsing into the driver's seat with a sigh, Danny reversed out of the car park and drove away.

* * *

><p>Grace was already home by the time Danny arrived, since she'd only had a half day at school. Just seeing his daughter was enough to help Danny feel slightly calmer about the situation.<p>

"Hi, Danno," she greeted him with a smile, which quickly turned into a frown. "What happened to your hand?"

Glancing down, Danny noticed that the skin on his knuckles was torn and slightly bloody, and a bruise was already starting to form. "Oh, don't worry about it, Gracie. It just needs to be cleaned and dressed."

"Is that why you're home now?"

"That, and I needed a break and I needed to see you," he replied, placing a quick kiss on the top of her head. "How's your homework going?"

Grace glanced at the small pile of exercise books and textbooks that had been built up over the last hour or so. "Slow. I've got quite a lot to do. Do we have a Bible anywhere? My RS teacher told us that we need to start using Bible quotes to support our answers."

"We should do. I'll find it for you in a minute." Danny headed down the hallway to the bathroom and got his first aid kit out of the cupboard underneath the sink. He pulled out a couple of sterile pads from the kit and carefully cleaned the jagged cuts, hissing at the sting, and pressed a couple of butterfly strips to the worst of the scrapes.

Discarding the pads, Danny looked at his reflection in the mirror, taking in the dark bags under his eyes. He hadn't had a case like this in years, where it constantly weighed on your mind and kept you awake at night. It was worse this time around, because of the feeling that he had seen something similar to this before. It was driving him absolutely crazy! Where had he seen this before?

Shaking his head, Danny left the bathroom and entered his bedroom. As he stepped through the doorway, the realisation hit him like a sledgehammer and stopped dead.

"Oh, my God, that's it!" Danny whispered to himself.

**There you go. There's your Halloween treat from me. Please leave reviews, I only got two reviews for chapter 7. I missed you all! Please please please please leave reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow, okay, so it's been a long time since I updated, and I am so sorry for that, and leaving you all hanging for so long. Life has been absolutely hectic, particularly my A-Levels; we're getting down to the juicy parts of the courses. I've had to redo two tests already, one Chemistry and one Biology, and had a Maths test yesterday. Really, _really _horrible test. But hey ho, I've survived another week.  
>Anyways, here's the next chapter for you all. Hope it's satisfactory :)<strong>

Chin returned to the office and found Steve leaning wearily against the computer table, a disconsolate look on his face.

"Steve?" he called cautiously, and watched as his boss jumped and whirled around, relaxing when he saw it was Chin.

"Oh, hey. How's the kid doing?"

"He's responding to the treatment, but it's still very much tough and go," Chin replied. "His doctor said that it's unlikely we'll be able to speak to him before tomorrow at the earliest."

"Okay. Is Kono still at the hospital?"

"Yeah, she's going to speak to the mom and see if she can get anything from her," he replied. "Where's Danny gone?"

At Chin's question, Steve's shoulders slumped. "I don't know where he's gone," he revealed. "He stormed out of here a while ago."

"What? What happened?" Chin asked, frowning. "I thought you were questioning Miriam?" When Steve didn't answer, Chin came over to the computer table and saw that the former SEAL had an almost tormented look on his face. "Steve. What. Happened?"

Steve shook his head as he answered, "I… I went too far. Danny was questioning Miriam, but she wouldn't say anything, so I took a shot at it and I got too carried away."

"Steve, what did you do?"

Steve ran his hands through his hair, sighing heavily. "I ended up shouting at her, and Danny told me to back off. I didn't even realise I was terrifying her. Danny and I were arguing in the corridor; he said that I couldn't bully her into talking, and I…"

"What?" Chin pushed. "You did what?"

"I questioned his abilities as a detective," he admitted, hanging his head in shame.

Chin pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to tamp down the frustration at Steve that he could feel building. They all knew how much Danny had suffered at HPD in the six months before Five-0 had been formed; apart from Meka, all the cops had hated him, doubted his competence and done everything they could to make his life hell. To have his partner – his brother – question his capabilities would have definitely been a low blow.

"Steve…"

"I know; I went too far," Steve interrupted him before he could say anything. "But I didn't mean to. I just wanted answers from Miriam, and…"

"I get it, Steve. I do," Chin added when Steve glanced at him sceptically. "We're all stressed out right now, and we're all a little short-tempered."

"It's still no excuse for what I said," Steve countered miserably. "I went too far this time."

"Yes, you did go too far," Chin agreed. "But Danny will know that you didn't mean it. Once he's had some time to cool down, you can make it up to him, okay?"

Steve nodded. "Okay."

"Good. So what did you manage to get from Miriam?"

"She was afraid to say anything about the killer, and we found out why: he's her brother," Steve explained.

"Her brother? Are you sure?" Chin asked.

"Positive. I got a name as well." Steve brought up an ID card. "His name's Alexander Joseph. He worked for the city council as a plumber until a few years ago when they made several employees redundant."

It was almost too good for Chin to believe; almost a month of brutal murders and no leads, and finally, they had a name. "Do we have an address for him?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet."

Chin frowned as he studied the killer's face. "The MO still doesn't make any sense, though. Why all the changes in method?"

"Actually, the MO does make sense," a voice answered from behind them. Steve and Chin turned to see Danny striding towards them. "He's emulating the seven deadly sins."

Steve and Chin stared at him for a moment, almost daring him to say he was kidding. "You're joking, right?" Steve asked, but Danny shook his head.

"Wish I were. See, I knew I'd seen these somewhere before, but it wasn't a case," he explained. "The nuns at my high school showed us pictures of the punishments in hell for those that were guilty."

"That's messed up," Steve stated, receiving nods of agreement from both Chin and Danny. "So, Richard Harrington…?"

"His colleagues hated him because he would filch their wages and flaunted his money; that's the sin of greed," Danny revealed. "The punishment for that is to be boiled in oil."

"Isopropyl alcohol." Steve recalled the trace Charlie found on Harrington's body.

"Laura Henderson slept with her sister's husband," Chin remembered. "That could be the sin of lust."

"Yeah, and Charlie found traces of sulphur on her body," Danny added. "Another name for sulphur? Brimstone, which the lustful would be buried in."

"And Stefan Bowen had frogs' legs forced down his throat. That's gluttony," Steve realised, and then frowned. "What about Chris Lawrence? Bitten by a snake? Which sin does that punish?"

"Sloth," Danny answered. "And it should actually be thrown into a pit of snakes, but imagine trying to lug that around."

Steve leaned against the table with a heavy sigh. "These are all very disturbing, you know," he muttered. "Snakes, fire, frogs…"

"Well, it's not exactly like I came up with these," Danny snarked. "But yes, you are right; these are extremely unsettling."

"So what sins are left?"

"Wrath, pride and envy," he answered. "Dismemberment, broken on the wheel and placed in freezing water."

Steve groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, great, it's going to get even messier."

"Not if we catch Joseph before he can claim any more victims," Chin pointed out, pulling his phone from his pocket. "I'll call Kono and fill her in."

As Chin disappeared into his office, Steve suddenly felt uncomfortable and nervous about being left alone with Danny. He hadn't felt that way in years. Danny could feel Steve's anxiety practically radiating off of him in waves, and knew it was from this morning. The man had a terrible guilt complex; no doubt he was now feeling responsible for the argument earlier.

"What did you manage to find, Steve?" Danny asked, in an attempt to diffuse the awkwardness.

Thankful for the diversion, Steve started to fill him in. "I got an ID for Miriam's brother. His name's Alexander Joseph. He's a plumber; worked for the city council until he got laid off a few years ago."

Danny nodded. "He might have done some work for each of the victims and observed them. That could be how he picks his victims."

"Could be," Steve agreed. The awkward silence fell between them again for several moments, before Steve spoke up again. "Listen, Danny, I-I'm sorry about-"

Danny, however, held up a hand, forestalling Steve's apology. "Don't, Steve," he interrupted. "I'm not angry about this morning. Well, not anymore," he amended quickly. "This is an awful case, and it's getting to us all. It just happened to be today that it all bubbled over."

"Still, I shouldn't have said that," Steve argued. "I shouldn't have questioned your capability as a detective."

"No, you shouldn't have, and usually when someone does, I punch them in the face," Danny replied. "But I'm not angry this time, Steve, so you can stop with the blame and self-reproach."

Steve couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from his mouth. "Alright, noted."

A small smile tugged on Danny's lips, and he held out his arms. "Come here," he muttered, pulling the taller man into a brotherly, back-slapping hug. "We're okay, Steve."

Steve pulled back from the embrace and turned back to the computer table, as Chin returned from his office. "Okay," he whispered, mostly to himself. "Before we do anything else, we need to make sure that Alex Joseph had contact with every victim. Danny, go speak to Laura Henderson's sister, and the husband as well. Chin, speak to Stefan Bowen's girlfriend. I'll head over to Harrington's address, and speak to his wife."

* * *

><p>Alexander Joseph sat in his van, reciting the Creed as he handled a set of rosary beads. As he finished, he crossed himself, before hooking the beads over his rear-view mirror once more. Joseph gazed at the cross for several moments, before he shifted his gaze to look out the window at the Ali'iolani Hale, a refuge for sinners and deviants alike.<p>

"God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life," he murmured. "But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

**We've now got motive. Well done to Jazzieg who was the first to correctly guess what the killer's motive is :). I will get the next chapter up when possible; my schedule now gives me very little writing time. But for now, read and review please x**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, so I have not had the best of weeks so far. On Monday, I found out that I had failed a test I was pretty confident in, so I had to do a retest for that, which my dad made me feel like crap about, because the teachers all say that we should be happy that we're achieving Cs and Bs, because A-Levels are _incredibly _hard, but according to my dad, I'm not achieving high enough. Secondly, on Tuesday, I had ANOTHER Chemistry test which I had been dreading, because everyone who has done says it is really hard; my best friend, who is very smart had to do it again. And then yesterday, I hadn't given in my Stats homework, which was due on Monday, because I had done the wrong exercise. So I tried to do it again for my teacher before Wednesday, but didn't manage that, because I struggled so much with it; I had to do it five times, just to get 50%! And now, today, my teacher put up an exam question that was a really, _really _awful one that I had no idea how to do. I had to leave the lesson because of it! So this week... close to being one of my top ten worst weeks.  
>Sorry, I just needed to rant there. Sorry about the delay (see above). But it is now done, it's finished, and I've got tomorrow to look forward to: another Star Wars day with Skyflower51 and Blaxconiox!<strong>

Around half an hour later, Steve returned to HQ, finding Chin already stood next to the computer table.

"Sally Harrington didn't recognise Alex Joseph, so I contacted his employees at the bank," he started as he approached the older man. "He fixed the pipes in the break room there a few weeks previously."

Chin nodded. "He would have seen Harrington as the sin of greed there, and his employees would have backed up his view."

"Exactly. What about Bowen's girlfriend?" Steve asked. "Did she recognise Joseph?"

"Yeah, she did. Joseph fitted a new shower for them about a week before he was killed," Chin replied. "I already called Kono, as well; she spoke to Jemima Lawrence and told her about Joseph's motive. She said that Chris is a typical teenage boy; spends most of his time ensconced in his room, and sleeps like a vampire."

"Ergo, he is sloth. When was Joseph at their house?"

"Only a couple of days ago, apparently; they hired him to fix a blocked drain."

"Two days ago?" Steve questioned, frowning at the rapid escalation. "He's really stepping up his game."

"If he is, Joseph is going to start getting careless," the Hawaiian added. "He's going to make it easier for us to catch him."

"Let's hope so," Steve murmured, just as his phone rang. "It's Danny," he said, glancing at the caller ID. "Hey Danny, you're on speaker."

"_Hey," _Danny's voice came over the line._ "I spoke to Charlotte Henderson again; she recognised Joseph, but he didn't do any work for her. It was actually for her neighbour, Valerie. Apparently, Valerie likes to talk."_

"So she told Joseph that Laura slept with her sister's husband," Chin surmised.

"_And he sees her as the sin of lust."_

"Chin, get on the phone to Judge Kanai for a warrant; we've got enough for probable cause," Steve ordered, and Chin nodded, moving towards his office to call the judge's office. "Danny, I'll send you Joseph's address."

"_Okay, I'll meet you there," _he said, before hanging up.

* * *

><p>Nearly an hour later, Steve, Danny and Chin gathered outside Alex Joseph's house. "Chin, you go in from the back. Danny and I'll breach from the back," Steve quickly explained. Chin nodded and headed around to the back of the property, while Steve and Danny approached the front door.<p>

Glancing quickly at Danny, Steve raised an eyebrow, silently asking if he was ready, and received a nod in reply. Steve nodded and drew his leg back, kicking the door in, before quickly stepping back to allow Danny to move in ahead of him. Towards the back of the property, they heard Chin kick down the back door.

Steve signalled to Danny to clear the living room, while he moved into the dining room. With a quick, sweeping gaze around the room, Steve searched the room for anything to do with the seven deadly sins, but initially, nothing stood out.

He lowered his weapon and blew out a breath. "Clear!" he yelled to Chin and Danny, receiving the same back from the two of them.

"You guys are going to want to see this," Chin added.

Danny and Steve followed Chin's voice into the bedroom at the back of the house, and were greeted by the sight of Joseph's obsession. The entire wall opposite was covered in graphic images of punishments in hell – artists' interpretations over the years – of the seven deadly sins. Bibles lined the bookshelf, and another lay open on his bed.

Danny moved over to the bed and picked up the Bible. "'There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.' Proverbs," he read, looking up at Steve and Chin as he finished.

"He is truly obsessed, isn't he?" Chin remarked.

"If Joseph is methodical and careful, he's not going to come back here," Steve pointed out. "He's got to have a second place to hide out in. We need to get a BOLO out on him."

"I'll call HPD," Danny replied, leaving the room as he pulled his phone out.

Chin glanced at Steve as he glared around the room. He could see the anger and frustration clearly on his face. "Steve?"

The former SEAL stopped in his pacing to look sharply at Chin. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed heavily. "We were so close, Chin," he murmured. "We were this close to getting him. And now we're back to square one."

"No, we're not," Chin countered. "Joseph knows we're onto him now, and we're closing in. He's been spooked now. In his mind, he needs to finish this before we arrest him; he's going to start getting reckless now."

Steve took in a breath as he listened to what Chin was saying, and the calm, detached front slid back into place. "Okay. Let's get back to HQ; we can come up with a strategy there."

As they left the bedroom, Danny came back down the hallway. "HPD has put out a BOLO on Alex Joseph, and alerted the news as well. If Joseph is seen anywhere, HPD will get a call."

"Alright, good," Steve nodded. "We need to head back and try and find where Joseph might be hiding out now. We need to talk to Miriam again, too. She wanted to protect her brother; she may know where he'd go."

Danny reached out and grasped Steve's arm as he tried to walk past him. "Steve, hold up. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to speak to Miriam again so soon," he suggested.

The look Steve gave him was one of disbelief. "What? She could know where her brother's going to go, Danny; we need to talk to her again."

"After you nearly scared her to death this morning?" Danny retorted, raising his eyebrows. Steve flushed in embarrassment as Danny reminded him of his behaviour that morning. "We'll talk to her tomorrow, Steve. She needs some time to calm down, as do you."

"We need to find him, though," Steve argued, despite the fact that he knew it would be pointless.

"And we will. We've got a BOLO out on him, so we'll know when he's been seen," the blond reasoned. "But you need to take a step back for now, all right, and come back to it tomorrow in a calm state of mind."

Steve nodded, giving up the fight. "Alright. Let's go, then."

**Okay, so I hope that was worth the wait. Please, please, please, pleeeease leave reviews; I need nice things to undo all the badness of this week!**


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